Uroš Povalej was born in 1971 in Ljubljana.

He joined the Police in 1990, after having graduated from the Police Cadets School, and was recruited by the Ljubljana Centre Police Station, where he served as a police officer, police district manager and criminal police officer.

In 2006, he graduated from the Police College in Tacen and was transferred to the Ljubljana Bežigrad Police Station, where he assumed the position of Assistant Head. In 2007, he graduated from the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security of the University of Maribor, and in 2010, he completed his master's degree at the Faculty of Government and European Studies.

In 2010, he became head of the Corruption Group at the Economic Crime Section of the Criminal Police Division at the Police Directorate Ljubljana. In this role, he gained invaluable experience investigating complex economic and corruption crimes, using a wide range of police powers and cooperating with various state authorities.

In 2023, he was transferred to the Service of Director General of the Police, under the Development and System Tasks Division, where he undertook the most demanding tasks within the division's scope of work.

Povalej was appointed Director of the Police Directorate Kranj on 3 May 2024.